Air-supply device for internal-combustion engines



C. L. GRAHAM. 'MR SUPPLY DEVICE FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES. APPLICATION. FILED AUG-30. 1919. 1,361,575.

Patented Dec. 7, 1920 BY WWA TTORNE Y CHARLES LESLIE GRAHAM, 0F SAGINAW, MICHIGAN.

AIR-SUPPLY DEVICE FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. *7, 1920.

Application filed. August 30, 1919. Serial No. 320,843.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CnARLEs LESLIE GRAHAM, a citizen of the Unlted States, residin at Saginaw, in the county of Saginaw and tate of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in An- Supply Devices for Internal-Combustion Engines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to internal combustion engines and pertains more part cularly to an improved device for supplying air to the mixture of gas and air that 1s delivered from the carbureter to the lntake manifold of the engine.

As is well known, the usual carbureter 1s constructed with an air intake and a gasolene or liquid fuel intake and a gas-and-alr mixture outlet to the engine. The gasolene inlet to the carburetor is controlled by a needle valve which may be regulated from the drivers seat to fix the rate of feed of liquid fuel into the carburetor. The air inlet to the carbureter is usually controlled by a swinging valve operated by the primer rod under control of the driver, by manual operation. The outlet of mixed gas and a1r from the carbureter to the engine manifold is usually controlled by a swing valve actuated by the gas lever on the steering post.

To start such an engine it is usually necessary to increase the supply of gasolene by opening the needle Valve of the carbureter and to throttle the air intake by means of the primer, thereby giving the engine a richer mixture for starting. When ascending hills or traveling over bad roads the supply of mixture to the engine is increased in quantity by opening the outlet valve from the carbureter to the englne by meansof the gas control lever.

During the change from light duty to heavy duty of the engine, the richness of the mixture remains constant unless the primer or the needle valve are independently actuated by hand; whereas the best results are obtained when an increased supply of air is introduced into the passageway between the carbureter and the engine at the time the heavy duty is called for, thus giving the rich mixture the necessary additional oxygen to insure perfect combustion.

The added air should be supplied to the manifold in sucha way that it will further promote the intimate mixture of the gas and air, and also prevent as far as possible the accumulating of liquid fuel on the inner walls of the manifold and along the walls of the intake passages of the engine.

The supply of air should also be automatlcally regulated S0 as to be always in proportlon to, or nearly in proportion to the quantity of additional mixture supplied to the engine.

It is, therefore, one of the objects of my invention to provide a device adapted to be quickly and easily attached interchangeably to manifolds of various sizes and styles of engines, and connected operatively to the gas control lever of the carburetor so that it will deliver at all adjusted positions of the gas control an additional supply of air proportional in quantity to the quantity of gas mixture delivered from the carburetor.

A further object of my invention is to provide on the air supply nozzle, means whereby the mixture, upon taking up its additional supply of air, will become more thoroughly mixed and atomized by the action of the incoming air.

A still further object is to provide an automatically actuated air supply device that is capable of being easily and quickly adjusted to various angular positions and thereby be adapted to suit different styles and sizes of enginesawithout altering the parts or construction of the air intake attachment. v

With the foregoing and certain other obj ects in View, which will appear later in the specifications, my invention consists in the devices and combinations herein described and claimed, and the equivalents thereof. In the drawings forming part of the specifications, Figure 1 indicates the manifold of an automobile engine to which my improvement is attached.

Fig. 2 is a plan View, broken away in part, showing the adjustable arm by which the device is adapted to be adjusted to different engines.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the valve with the valve-actuating arm removed.

As is clearly shown in the drawings, the device consists in a plug valve or cock 1, of usual or suitable construction, screwed to the manifold 2 or other accessible part of the engine through which flows the mixture of gas and air on its way from the carbureter to the engine cylinders. The screwthreaded end of the cock is preferably fitted with a perforated nozzle 3 that extends nearly across the passageway of the manifold and acts as a sprayer to deliver the added air in a number of jets that thoroughly mix with the flow of gas mixture. An arm 4: of sheet metal or equivalent construction is mounted on the body of valve 1-, being preferably secured thereto by means of screws 5, 5 received in openings 6, 6 of arm 4, whereby the arm may be located in various angularly adjusted positions with respect to the central axis of the valve stem 7 A longitudinal slot 8 is formed in the arm 4 to serve as a guideway for the traveling pin 9 that slidingly connects the stationary arm 4; with the longitudinally slotted arm 10 that is secured to the stem 7 of the valve or cock 1.

The pin 9 is secured to one end of a link 11, the other end of which is secured, by

means of a universal or swiveled joint 12 to the gas control rod 13 of the carbureter 14.

By means of the sliding connection afforded by the coacting slotted arms 4 and 10 a given movement of the gas control rod 13', resulting in a given increase of volume of gas mixture transmitted from the carbureter to the engine, results in a proportionate increase in the opening of cock 1, and a consequent proportionate increase in the amount of air added to the mixture. The proportion of air in the mixture is thereby automatically maintained practically constant, regardless of the amount of 7 opening or closing of the gas intake.

The device can be readily adjusted to the proper amount of opening and to the proper movement for a given movement of the gas control rod by merely adjusting the angular position of arm 4 and its slot 8. The same angular adjustment of the arms may be em- V ployed for connecting the device to different sizes and shapes of engines.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination with an internal combustion engine and a gas supply control therefor, of an air cock located to communicate with the gas supply to said engine, an air-jet nozzle on said cock, a lever secured to the stem of said cook, a guide arm secured to the body of said cock and angularly adjustable with relation thereto, a pin slidingly engaging said arm and said lever,

and a link operatively connecting said pin and the gas-control rod of said engine.

2. The combination with an internal combustion engine and a gas supply control therefor, of an air cock communicating with the explosive mixture supply conduit to said engine, a perforated nozzle on said cock, a slotted lever secured to the stem of said cock, a slotted guide arm secured to the body of said cock and angularly adjustable with relation thereto, a pin slidingly received in the slots of said arm and said lever, and a link operatively connecting said pin and the longitudinally movable gas control rod of said engine.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

CHARLES LESLIE GRAHAM. 

